Torn Fate, Bound Destiny
by BlackBlade0001
Summary: What if Harry had a bit more help during that fateful night at the graveyard? Would things be better or worse? What if that help came from a most unexpected person? Two heroes of Prophecy cross paths and their Destinies become one.
1. Beginnings

**Torn Fate, Bound Destiny**

Chapter One

_Beginnings_

**Disclaimer:** I own neither Yu-Gi-Oh! or Harry Potter, they belong to Takahashi and Rowling respectively and I take credit only for the situations in which I put their characters. I am also not making any sort of profit out of this story…would be great if I did, but I'm not so that's that.

**Summary:** The Ceremonial Duel ended and the Pharaoh was given the choice of either moving on or staying. Too used to the World of the Living and attached to his friends, he decides to stay and is given his own body to inhabit in this new life. With his destiny fulfilled and the world safe once again, the Pharaoh feels without purpose and unneeded…at least until a certain young wizard comes into his life, binding their fates and taking the Pharaoh into a whole new set of crazy adventures. Action, Adventure, Angst and Slash!

**Pairing: **Atem/Harry

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Everyone has a purpose in life; everyone has a destiny to fulfill that no matter how great or small may seem is equally important and necessary. This was one of the greatest motivator people had, something that made them move forward on and on to achieve that one goal despite whatever burdens they may carry and whatever obstacles they may have to overcome. It gave them a reason to _live._

The same could once be said of a certain once-Pharaoh. He had gone through a lot, survived (sort of, at least) everything Fate threw at him and waited three thousand years to fulfill his destiny, and he had never felt more alive than when he had finally achieved that. But then what?

After everything was done and over with, when the world was finally safe from a demon that had haunted it for millennia, what was he left with? He could have gone on, of course, entered the Doorway to Death and finally went to rest alongside those he had left behind when he'd first 'died', but he hadn't.

Why hadn't he? He supposed it was because he'd never really had the chance to actually live before he'd been sealed inside his own Puzzle and then when he'd finally been released…well, that lead to what certainly became the better days of his life, with his friends, their adventures, their duels, everything; but it hadn't been _his_ life, it was Yuugi's and would remain Yuugi's regardless of who exactly was in control of the body at the time. And so he had lived a few years as Pharaoh and then a couple more as Yuugi Mutou, but he'd never before had the chance to just live as himself and he wanted that chance.

So he had stayed and, perhaps reading his thoughts and deciding to grant his greatest wish, the very gods had granted him his own body to inhabit, releasing him from the fate of remaining an immaterial spirit for whoever long he remained in this world. That had been quite the surprise, he recalled, for himself and those who witnessed it; the Doorway closing, the duel ending and still two almost mirror images, two boys who had fought and survived together, who had been _one_, standing there, facing each other.

He also recalled that Yuugi had ran to him and hugged him with as much strength as the boy could muster, relived and ecstatic that his Other Self had not left after all. The Pharaoh had returned the embrace and the whole thing had ended in a group hug consisting of almost everyone present, bar a certain CEO and the Ishtar siblings. It had certainly been one of the better moments in his life, the perfect one with which to start this new life. And everything was fine.

Only, things never remain fine for a very long time. Atem went to live with Yuugi and his grandfather, as they were practically family by now and the old man had absolutely insisted. He stayed there and helped Sugoroku Mutou run his little game shop and waited for the next adventure to come his way; only, it never did.

Things stayed quiet and calm for one whole year and Atem stayed the same, just at home helping run the shop. He couldn't go to school with the others, not even though it was their last years together, because he had absolutely no legal identity or documents to prove that he existed in this age. In other words, legally he didn't even exist and that put quite a lot of limits on the things he could and could not do.

The only times he could even go to a Tournament was when Yuugi was invited and kindly gave his spot to the once-spirit. The boy loved the Tournaments, yes, but he knew that his Other Self got terribly bored and missed the excitement they'd once shared and so they took turns going. Fortunately enough no one ever noticed the differences between the two versions of Yuugi Mutou, no one ever had anyways. These occasions and the constant support from his friends were the only thing that kept him from regretting not dying after that Ceremonial Duel, and even that faltered sometimes.

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It was in fact a Tournament (the European Finals, if you were wondering) that had brought him all the way to England, and made him mentally promise to thank Yuugi later for learning English and passing the skill onto him when he was still the Spirit of the Puzzle, he was lost enough as it was and he couldn't even imagine what it would've been like if he didn't know the language.

He had arrived two days before the Tournament started, having learned by now that it was better safe than sorry, and when the anxiousness and boredom had finally gotten to be too much for even a man of his patience, he had decided that it would be a good idea to go sightseeing. A misunderstanding at the train station ticket booth, an argument with some idiots in the train, an irritated train guard and a lot of his luck mixed in and he had _somehow_ ended in a town called Great Hangleton.

Now, Atem being Atem, he had not let that stop him and had spent what remained of the day wandering around the town, not really finding anything too interesting, not yet.

He was still walking aimlessly around the positively boring streets of Great Hangleton, hand in the pockets of his black leather pants and gazing distractedly at the sky, when a noise had caught his attention. He turned and found, not a new enemy or megalomaniac to defeat, but a harmless old man struggling to lift some groceries he had dropped without having the rest of it, or himself, fall down as well. Perhaps not his most heroic act, but the Pharaoh still hurried to help out the poor man, knowing that he would be grateful if anyone did the same for his own grandfather…err, Yuugi's grandfather…whatever, it was still the right thing to do.

"Here you go Ji…err, sir" The teenager said, slipping for a moment back into the more familiar words in Japanese before correcting himself.

He handed the man his dropped items back and lifted the bag so the elder could get a better grip on the whole thing and not have it happen again. The man gratefully took everything back.

"Ah, thank you, my boy. Incredible how a few little things can give you so much trouble" The white-haired elder said with a laugh "But then, when you get to my age e_verything_ seems to give you trouble"

Atem supposed that much was true, even though he tried very hard to ignore and outright deny the fact. He spent a lot of his time accompanying grandpa these days and, reluctantly, he had noticed the way the old man struggled with his daily activities more and more as time went by. He knew, if he thought about it rationally, that grandpa would one day die, but he was trying very hard to ignore that little fact, along with his own newly regained mortality and that of Yuugi and the gang.

"I've never seen you 'round these parts, lad" The once-in-trouble old an said, bringing Atem's attention back to him and away from unpleasant topics "What is a foreign lad like you doing in a dull old place like this?"

Atem was asking himself that very question and so couldn't help the sheepish look he gave in response "Well, I ended up here accidentally and thought I'd explore around some, only…"

The old man chuckled amusedly "Only you didn't find anything worth exploring" He said, saving Atem from having to explain the situation himself, which only brought relief to the Pharaoh "I'm not surprised, there's hardly anything of interest around." The words didn't cheer Atem any, since the afternoon was already over and he was much too tired to travel all the way back to London and enjoy anything there.

"Unless of course you're interested in the paranormal" And if _that _didn't get the attention of an ancient-spirit-turned-corporeal then certainly nothing would.

"Like what?" Atem questioned, fully willing to trust the old man's knowledge on the points of interest of his own hometown.

"Oh, ghost and spirits and such" He said, waving a hand almost dismissively for a second before hurriedly putting it back in his back of groceries, which had tilted threateningly for the second he had removed said hand.

"Oh?" The Pharaoh made his interest obvious and silently willed the old man to explain further.

"Yes, yes. There's this haunted house not too far from here, where a family was mysteriously murdered some fifty years ago" The elder explained, his eyes taking on a faraway look as he reminisced "Terrible thing, terrible. And I remember it well, too, no wounds on them, nothing to explain why they stopped breathing, they just did"

And that was what made Atem absolutely determined to go and check this particular haunted house. He wasn't really all that interested in the occult, not like Ryou was at least, but this mysterious murder sounded suspiciously close to Shadow Magic and if that was so then it was entirely plausible that the souls taken from those murdered people were still residing in the house, waiting for someone to free them. He was entirely too willing to do that, knowing what it was like to not be able to go on to the Afterlife and still not be able to be part of this world either.

"Where?" The teenager asked in almost a gasp, ready to bolt in the direction the old man gave and go correct this atrocity at once.

"In the little village right next to this one, Little Hangleton. The house is called Riddle Manor"

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**Author's Notes**: The plot bunnies keep sneaking up on me to attack at random . This is an idea that just suddenly got into my head and won't leave me alone, just like the others I guess. Unlike my other stories though, with this one I have no idea of how it's gonna end or where exactly it's going after the first five or so chapters so basically just about anything could happen.

Also, I think I started this one because "Sons of Ra" is set almost entirely on YGO world while "Light and Shadows" is set completely in HP world so I needed one that would have both worlds mixed together to complete the collection XD

Also, I am aware that the timeline for Yu-Gi-Oh! is kinda messed up in this, but it was the only way to make things work so let's just pretend that events in the YGO world happened sooner so it is now 1995 and a year since the Ceremonial Duel ^-^

Well guys let me know what you think of this one. I know the first chapter is kinda boring, but trust me when I say it more than makes up for in chapter two and so forth, those are more action-filled XD


	2. Clash

**Torn Fate, Bound Destiny**

Chapter Two

_Clash_

**Disclaimer:** I own neither Yu-Gi-Oh! or Harry Potter, they belong to Takahashi and Rowling respectively and I take credit only for the situations in which I put their characters. I am also not making any sort of profit out of this story…would be great if I did, but I'm not so that's that.

**Summary:** The Ceremonial Duel ended and the Pharaoh was given the choice of either moving on or staying. Too used to the World of the Living and attached to his friends, he decides to stay and is given his own body to inhabit in this new life. With his destiny fulfilled and the world safe once again, the Pharaoh feels without purpose and unneeded…at least until a certain young wizard comes into his life, binding their fates and taking the Pharaoh into a whole new set of crazy adventures. Action, Adventure, Angst and Slash!

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Harry Potter was a most unlucky boy, probably the unluckiest boy in all of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardy. In fact, his bad luck was just about as legendary as the many adventures it had resulted in and the accompanying good luck that had somehow managed to get him out from all said adventures alive and whole, if a little wiser and a little injured.

Today of all days, Harry Potter's luck had decided to take a turn for the worse, in fact it was probably a 360° spiraling turn straight into madness and chaos. Not only had he been pretty much forced to participate in an extremely dangerous tournament designed for adults, but in the last hour he had been questioned by a sphinx, attacked by vines, blast-ended skrewts, acromantulas and a bewitched Viktor Krum; he had also saved his fellow Hogwarts student Cedric Diggory from being strangled by the aforementioned vines and then, in what he would later refer to his less bright idea in a history of not-very bright ideas, he and Cedric had grabbed the Triwizard Cup at the same time, making it a draw between the two Hogwarts champions and a victory to celebrate for the whole school.

Of course, it had not ended there; nothing even ends as simply and wonderfully for Harry Potter. The Cup the four champions had been striving for and suffering to obtain had turned out to be a portkey and not just any portkey, no, but one that took the two boys to a place of nightmares…literarily, as Harry could recognize the landscape from his most recent (and most strange) dreams.

And then comes the cherry on the cake, which would be the fact that Wormtail (loathsome, disgusting little traitor that he is) was waiting for them. Or rather, he was waiting specifically for Harry, if the way he easily dismissed Cedric was anything to go by, killing him without a second thought or regard. The mere thought of Cedric's very sudden and horrible death was enough to bring a tight knot of anger and fear to Harry's stomach, but he could not give himself the luxury of mourning for his sort-of friend, as he had more pressing business to attend to…like getting free from the tombstone he was tied to and back to Hogwarts with his life.

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Atem was getting more and more frustrated as time went by and his search for the mysterious haunted house bore no results. It seemed that the inhabitants of Little Hangleton were most reluctant to give him any of the information he needed on the place. Oh, some were more than happy to share the gossip and stories that surrounded it - telling him how no one knew what or who exactly killed the Riddles, how no door or window had been forced open and no clues had been left behind - it was when it came to location that people became less talkative.

He supposed they were trying to keep him away from the place, either because they were scared of it or because they would rather not have a nosy teenager poking around a supposedly haunted house, but whatever the reason, it was starting to tick him off.

The Pharaoh was just about to enter a pub, the very best place to find information in a little village (even if the name "The Hanged Man" was less than welcoming) when he had felt _it_. His attention had been immediately caught and his head turned in the direction his senses warned him about. It was only then that he even noticed the grand house standing atop a little hill, almost invisible in the darkness of the night.

Something about _it_ (and he still wasn't sure what _it_ was) brought a feeling of utmost urgency to him and practically demanded that he get there now and do something about it already. And so he did. His eyes narrowed in a suspicious glare and he wasted not one more second before running top speed to the house in the hillside, slightly unnerved but determined to get to the bottom of this strange mystery.

Only as he got closer and closer to _it_ did he find that _it_ was not coming from the supposedly haunted Manor, as he had expected to, but from a rather old, overgrown and honestly creepy graveyard. _'Of course'_ he thought, a tone of annoyed resignation making its way into his mental voice '_it's always the graveyards'_.

Now that he was at such close distance from whatever had brought the unnerving feeling to him, he could get a much better sense of _it_. Whatever it was, it was very, very similar to Shadow Magic only…worse, twisted and dangerous and _evil_ somehow, making all of his senses scream at him to get away or make _it_ go away instead. His confusion at this new unknown thing made him hesitate to get closer, thinking that perhaps he should inspect it from a distance and make sure of what it was before coming dangerously closer, but when his sharp eyes finally noticed what was going on in the graveyard, he really had no other choice but to intervene.

His gaze fell on the figures of three different individuals, not all that far away from him and illuminated by the light coming from a fire heating some sort of monstrously gigantic cauldron. As if that wasn't sign enough that something strange was afoot, then the fact that one of the people he could see was bound to a gravestone and another apparently knocked out on the floor was enough for Atem.

The Pharaoh crouched down, hiding himself easily amongst the many dilapidated tombstones and concealing shadows, and he observed at the same time he planned, deciding to help the two obviously being held against their will.

He waited no longer than a few seconds before the apparent kidnapper started to pull something off the ground. At first Atem had thought it was only a bundle of old clothes and paid it no mind, but the moment the clothes fell off to reveal what was underneath, he knew something was wrong, very, very, very wrong. It was a creature the likes of which he had never seen before, and he had seen his fair share of things by now, hairless and scaly-looking, colored a dark, raw, reddish black with extremely thin and feeble legs and arms*. And its soul…by Ra, its soul could not even be called a soul. Atem could feel the evil in it, greed and anger and hate consumed it, but not only that (he had seen that numerous times in the souls of many men), it was _mangled_, destroyed and mutilated beyond recognition or help. It was all _wrong_ and made the usually composed Pharaoh gasp in horror and disgust.

And then the man who held it - because he could call such creature nothing else than 'it' -dropped it inside the bubbling, sparking liquid of the cauldron. The unnerving feeling rose to levels almost indescribable after that and for just a second Atem regretted having wished so fervently for adventure and danger once more instead of enjoying his time of peace, before his attention was captured by the events happening in front of him.

The man who had dropped the thing started to chant and Atem struggled to hear, perhaps then he could understand exactly what was happening here and how to go about correcting it.

"Bone of the father, unknowingly given, you will renew your son!"

And at those words a trickle of dust rose from between the cracks of a tomb, obviously having once belonged to a human being, if the man's words were true. Atem felt some sort of déjà vu start to creep into his mind at this, but he was frozen in place and could pay it no mind.

"Flesh of the servant, w-willingly given, you will…revive…your master."

And then the man went and did something Atem had for a moment been sure the guy would not be able to do, he raised his dagger and in one swift (although trembling from fear) movement chopped off his own hand and let it fall into the mix in cauldron. _'Oh, no. No, no, no, no'_ Was all Atem could think, too stunned by the whole thing and with a slight tendril of fear sneaking into his thoughts.

He could still recall all too easily what he had learned during the Memory World RPG, the way the Items had been made and the Ritual it had required, and this was starting to look way too similar to that in the Pharaoh's opinion.

"B-blood of the enemy…forcibly taken…you will… resurrect your foe."

When he heard that and, only a moment later, a grunt of pain from the tied and gagged boy on the tombstone, he knew, as sure as he knew his name, that this was a Ritual and one of the worst kind. Bone, flesh and blood was exactly what it took to release the Shadows once upon a time and he was sure that whatever this one would bring, it could not be good. **

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He had waited too long, he knew he had waited too long and things had only progressed for the worst. From the bubbling, foul liquid in the cauldron a mass of pale flesh had raised forth, it looked a lot like a man, very tall and very thin, but Atem knew better than to call a monstrosity such as this 'man'. It had red eyes, the color of freshly split blood, and its face was oddly similar to a snake's…a very misshaped and ugly snake at that.

The creature had shared words with his accomplice, the man who had dropped its once small and frail self into the cauldron to begin with, and did something to his arm - the one still whole - pressing a long and thin piece of wood against the underside of his forearm, right where a strange tattoo decorated the man, making him scream in pain.

Atem felt it the moment the wood made contact with the skin, a call went out, magical in nature no doubt and close enough to the call he emitted when summoning one of his faithful Shadow creatures that he knew without doubt that there was still more to come.

And they did, servants came to the call of their Master, and Atem could only watch as one by one they filled the space in the clearing, making whatever chance he had of freeing the two prisoners even slimmer than it had been before, but he would not give up. Slowly and as the creature and its servants distracted themselves with one another, he moved through the many tombstones, silent and pulling his Shadows closer to his body, hiding himself from enemy eyes, closer and closer to the still tied and gagged boy.

It was only when he was perhaps five yards away from him that the Pharaoh noticed something was wrong with the other boy, the one he had assumed was unconscious. His eyes were open and starring at the night sky with an expression of disbelief still etched on his face, but no emotion on the blank gaze. And Atem instantly knew he was dead, and some instinct told him that the other prisoner boy would surely share the same fate if something wasn't done.

"_Crucio_!"

The strange word was shouted by none other than the repugnant creature raised from the cauldron as its wooden stick (magical, Atem realized now) pointed at the captive youth. The reaction was instantaneous, and the Pharaoh knew just by the feel of the magic as it left the wand that it would not be good, the boy writhed and moaned in pain, not able to do much else because of his binds.

Atem felt pity for the boy and an immeasurable fury that anyone, let alone this abomination of nature, would dare harm someone as young and helpless. He knew he could not wait much more, that he had to save the boy before that horrible curse could be used on him once more. Fortunately, the chance did present itself soon enough, when the man-creature ordered the release of the black-haired prisoner and the return of his wand so that he could fight.

The Pharaoh was curious about the magical nature of this people, especially now that it seemed the boy was also one of these wand-wielding magicians, but he decided to investigate that once this whole thing was over with and the boy - and probably himself as well - were not in danger of imminent death.

As soon as the binds were off him, the boy stood with some difficulty - obviously injured since before Atem arrive-, glancing around at the circle of dark robbed people with the expression of a man damned to death and still willing to fight until the end. That, and the fact that he took his wand without second thought, ready to defend himself against this monster and his many followers, made the Pharaoh feel his respect for this brave teenager grow.

The battle was on almost before anyone realized it, but Atem could feel the magic gathering in the two opponents, one dark and wrong and the other strong but pure. He acted before the man-creature finished even the first word of his dreaded incantation, taking a card from his deck with such swiftness it would have been hard to see if anyone were even watching him. He didn't bother with looking at the card because he knew, as he always did, which one of them had risen to the occasion and followed his command.

"_Ava_-"

The black-haired boy was just about to start his own enchantment, but Atem didn't have time nor was he willing to risk anything else happening to the younger should his magical ability fail. The Pharaoh jumped out of his hiding place, standing just a little behind the magician boy, his arm extended and his hand gripping a Duel Monster card confidently as he sent his call to the Shadows and they answered instantly.

"Kōgeki no Muryokuka!" ***

A dazzling shield of silver light rose right in front of the other boy, protecting both him and the Shadow Master from whatever the man-creature had thrown. The _Negate Attack_ card had once again proved its usefulness and value. The reaction of those witnessing the event was extremely fast.

The magician boy turned to look at his unexpected source of help, green eyes wide in surprise and perhaps a little disbelief. The boy's attacker snarled in rage, sparks of red and black light being spit from his wand, as he yelled at his servants.

"Kill him! Kill him for interfering but leave Harry Potter to me!"

And the black-robed men hurried to comply, raising their wands threateningly and pointing at Atem and the boy – Harry, Atem reminded himself - obviously not willing to fail their master and enrage him further. The Pharaoh didn't wait to see what they would shoot at them before leaping towards the other boy and tackling him down and away from the multitude of oddly-colored lights that passed over their heads.

Fortunately for the two of them, the men had been standing in a circle and as they shot their magic at more or less the same time plus the little fact that their intended targets suddenly were not there to take the curses, resulted in some of said curses impacting on their fellows.

Harry quickly decided that this was the perfect time for both of them to escape and, taking Atem's hand in his and dragging the older boy away as quickly as he could manage, made his way towards the body of his deceased companion and the Cup which someway away from it. Atem didn't really understand what the boy wanted to do as he was pretty sure that said boy should be moving as far away from the black-robed magicians as possible.

"You have to get out of here! Go!" He yelled at the other, desperate to make the young magician understand the urgency of the situation and the danger he was still in.

"I won't leave him!" The boy spoke with such confident determination that Atem could not help but respect him even more. "Or you either"

At that Atem could simply not help but feel oddly proud and pleased with the boy and his outstanding courage, because not just anyone would put their life on the line for someone's body and some stranger they had met not one minute ago, even if said stranger had helped save their life first.

"_Accio_!" The young magician shouted, his own wand pointing at the glinting Cup lying some yards away from them, causing said Cup to fly smoothly through the air and straight towards the boy's pointing wand. But Atem was much too busy paying attention to their attackers and the danger they represented to pay any mind to the boy and his magic, and it saved both of them.

Harry extended his unoccupied hand in a desperate reach for the portkey-cup that could end this whole damned nightmare – he never made contact with it. The young wizard felt something push him from the back roughly, sending him to the ground and away from the summoned Cup, which fell instead directly atop the body of the once Triwizard champion known as Cedric Diggory.

The portkey activated, its magic coming to life either because of the magic in the summoning charm or the sudden impact with Cedric - perhaps even a mix of both – and transported the lifeless body back to the school. While this happened, Atem and Harry fell to one side in a tangle of limbs, a blinding beam of green light passing right by Harry's ear - having obviously only missed due to the sudden push from the Pharaoh to the younger boy that also made them miss their ticket out.

They only had a moment to right themselves and try to get up before the black-robed men were once again attacking left and right, shooting their spells indiscriminately. Atem opened his deck holster and pulled out another card in one fluid and quick movement - practice having made perfect by now - his ruby gaze filled with anger and annoyance; he'd had enough of this blasted sorcerers and he was not going to let them win.

"Genjū Ō Gazeru!" He cried, putting his Shadow magic behind the words and calling for the mighty creature to come to his aid.

From the shadows in the overgrown ground of the graveyard rose a creature that could be called both majestic and frightening. It looked a lot like a lion, only it had a much more human-like shape, lean but muscular, with a mane decorating its head and a single horn at the centre of its forehead, its sharp claws and fangs made it clear that this was not a creature to be trifled with. _Gazelle, the King of Mythical Beast_ had answered its master's call.

The masked and robed men took steps back and cried out in surprise and fear at the sudden appearance of this fierce monster, and Atem couldn't stop himself from feeling pleased at their fear and more than willing to give them an even bigger reason to fear his summon.

"Attack!" He ordered, his voice loud, clear and firm in its instructions to the creature.

And Gazelle did attack, jumping swiftly in the middle of the group of frightened servants, his claws tearing at whatever they managed to reach and his jaws closing over flesh and clothes, anything they could grab. The Pharaoh wasted no time in jumping to his feet, dragging Harry up by their still joined hands and trying to make a break for it while Gazelle held the attackers back. He didn't know for how long the Shadow monster could deal with these sorcerers, as they were already throwing spells and curses at it; they had to get away _now_.

Only, they didn't get all that far away before the cold, hissing voice of the robed men's Master shouted a curse that would stop them one way or another.

"_Avada Kedavra_!"

Atem didn't have enough time to pull out Negate Attack again before his companion counterattacked with the only spell that came to mind in these moments of peril and stress.

"_Expelliarmus_!"

The red beam of light expelled from Harry's wand connected with the sickly green one that was released from Voldemort's and created one very impressive light show. A golden dome of light fell down, encasing in it the two battling magicians and the Pharaoh.

Things had just gotten interesting.

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**Author's Notes**: And here is Chapter two! And it all starts getting interesting for our two heroes, not to mention kinda dangerous ^^U

A big, great thank you to **everyone** who reviewed this story. I would really like to encourage you people to leave comments, as it helps a lot to know what you think of my work and also how you think it could be better so comments, suggestions and ideas go in the review box! ^-^

*This description, as well as Wormtail's dialogue is taken from _Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire_, which as I have stated in the disclaimer right there at the top, belong to J.K. Rowling and not me.

** I felt very, very tempted to leave it here and make it sort-of cliffhanger but I had promised more action in this chapter and I will deliver! XD

*** I decided to have Atem speak the name of his card in Japanese because I want to keep this story real and logical, and it just makes sense to me that if he comes from Japan and his cards are all written in the original Japanese version then he will obviously call them by that name instead of having to learn the English ones. Still, every time a card's Japanese name is used, I will make sure to mention its English name [in italics] so you guys won't have to go and look it up at Yu-Gi-Oh! Wikia ^-^U It's a bit more of work for me, but I think it's worth the extra research.


	3. Strange Magic

**Torn Fate, Bound Destiny**

Chapter Three

_Strange Magic_

**Disclaimer:** I own neither Yu-Gi-Oh! or Harry Potter, they belong to Takahashi and Rowling respectively and I take credit only for the situations in which I put their characters. I am also not making any sort of profit out of this story…would be great if I did, but I'm not so that's that.

**Summary:** The Ceremonial Duel ended and the Pharaoh was given the choice of either moving on or staying. Too used to the World of the Living and attached to his friends, he decides to stay and is given his own body to inhabit in this new life. With his destiny fulfilled and the world safe once again, the Pharaoh feels without purpose and unneeded…at least until a certain young wizard comes into his life, binding their fates and taking the Pharaoh into a whole new set of crazy adventures. Action, Adventure, Angst and Slash!

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The whole thing had been one confusing, strange and undoubtedly dangerous event. Atem himself was not entirely sure exactly what it was that had happened after the golden dome fell above their heads, but he could certainly recall the bizarre happening with full clarity.

The red and green beams of magic had struggled against each other, trying to overcome their enemy and come out triumphant, but it was certainly a difficult battle and for a moment or two it seemed like they were entirely equal and so unable to overpower the other; and then, the sickly and twisted green had burst into a more powerful beam, making the spark-spitting center of conflict get closer and closer to Harry's wand, threatening to destroy his defense and finally get to him. Fortunately, the red magic had endured, and its caster seemed to muster up all the courage and strength he had left – which for a boy of his age and size seemed a lot, Atem would admit – and finally made the green retreat back to the wand from whence it came.

The Pharaoh had been very much surprised when, out of the ivory-colored piece of wood, a green specter-like thing had burst forth. It looked like the ghost of an old man, see-through and giving off a light green glow, but when Atem tried to get a feel of his soul – because that is what ghosts were, souls that didn't Go On – he had been shocked to find that it wasn't really a ghost, but appeared mostly to be a reflection of a departed soul, there and still not really there at all.

More not-ghosts had followed him – dozens of them even -, one he recognized as corresponding with the other boy he'd found at the graveyard, the one he had been too late to help and whose body had just recently vanished; and other two he soon enough concluded once were the young magician's parents, if their short conversation with the still battling boy was anything to go by.

"We love you and we are so proud of you" The not-ghost of the woman said, tears shining in her transparent eyes.

"We can give you a moment, son, but only one moment and you have to get away" The other not-ghost, this time that of the man accompanying the woman, said, looking very determined and strong even in his current condition.

Said man then turned to Atem, his see-through eyes resting sternly on the Pharaoh's own red ones. For a second, the once spirit could feel all the pain, fear and turmoil that struck to this reflection-of-soul and he felt pity for the man strike at his heart. Whatever had happened to this little family, of which two members were obviously now dead, had been tragic and painful.

"Help our son, please" The man said, his voice echoing strangely around "We trust you"

Atem could only nod, knowing that there was no way he could refuse such a plea – it simply wasn't in his nature – making him all the more determined to get this couple's son away safe and sound even if it meant that he would have to deal with the man-creature and its followers at another time.

And as soon as confirmation was given and the couple shared their last goodbye and 'I love you's with their orphaned son, the many not-souls dove in one massive wave of green light and mist-like bodies to strike at the creature whose wand they had come out of. This attack was more than enough to distract the twisted sorcerer-monster and give the two teenagers their chance.

The golden dome disappeared the moment the connection between the two battling beams of magic broke, no longer entrapping them within it and the two boys didn't even have to look at each other before bolting in the same direction.

"Gazeru!" Atem's voice rang out in a cry to his still attacking creature.

Gazelle was quick to obey its master's unspoken order and left the black-robed men – who were all still stubbornly attacking the poor beast, though fortunately enough hadn't dealt lethal damage yet – and leap towards the two fleeing boys.

Harry was startled and obviously a little intimidated by the fierce creature, but Atem quickly took his hand again and jumped onto Gazelle's back, half-dragging but mostly encouraging the younger boy to follow his example.

The sorcerer-creature was no longer distracted by the attacking not-souls – which had by now dissipated into nothingness and probably gone to wherever it was that they were supposed to be – and once again attempted to curse them. Gazelle, however, was much too fast and agile for the attacking monster and it, along with its two passengers, bolted away so fast that it almost looked like an illusion of them had been there and had now simply disappeared. *

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It was only minutes – and not many of them at that – before the two escapees were safe and away from the danger zone, back in the town of Great Hangleton where this all had begun for Atem.

Gazelle had run and leap from countryside and rooftops in its mad rush to save his master and master's companion. Atem had been forced to grip the lion-like mane in order to not fall off, and he had felt Harry's own grip in his shoulders as well; strangely enough, it had not been the death grip he had expected from the boy due to their decidedly strange method of transportation, apparently speed didn't bother the magician too much.

Finally, they stopped in one of the many dark alleys of the little town. Fortunately, no one had noticed the Shadow beast; but then, even if someone had seen them they would have probably put it off as their imaginations and left it that, people were like that – skeptic and stupid – sometimes.

Harry jumped off Gazelle's back as soon as the creature had stopped, his green gaze very firmly focused on both the Shadow monster and its summoner, with his wand tightly gripped in his hand and more than ready to fire a spell if any of his two strange companions proved to have less than noble intentions. Now that the danger was over, it was time for answers and explanations.

"Who are you and what is that?" The boy magician said, his wand for a second pointed at Gazelle.

The Shadow beast let out a low threatening growl, which obviously frightened Harry even though the boy was brave and stubborn enough not to step back or yelp in fear. It was almost enough to make Atem smirk in dark amusement.

"This is Genjū Ō Gazeru" The Pharaoh stated, one of his hands brushing the beast's mane with as much concern as though he were petting some housecat. "He won't attack you, if that is what you're wondering. Not unless I tell him to"

The young magician's green eyes narrowed in suspicion for a moment as they traveled from the Pharaoh to his beast and back again, obviously trying to figure them out.

"Are you going to?" The younger boy asked, his voice more suspicious and tired rather than afraid.

"If I wanted you dead, I would have left you back there with that…" The Pharaoh paused, his face showing revulsion for a second "…_thing_"

The wizard seemed to take that little explanation as true enough and lowered his wand some, but he was obviously still confused and about to ask another of what surely were many questions to come. Atem ignored him for the moment, turning his attention to Gazelle instead and deciding to deal with the younger boy once there wasn't a Shadow creature standing over his shoulder and making said boy nervous.

"Thank you for your help, my friend" The Pharaoh said, taking to steps away from Gazelle as he offered it a nod of gratitude. "You may go back now"

And with that dismissal, the lion-like beast dissolved into shadow and darkness, disappearing completely from the human world and going back to the Realm where it belonged. The sight brought a little gasp of surprise from Harry, who finally had Atem's undivided attention once more.

"How did you do that?" There was some reluctant awe in the boy's voice, as though he wasn't sure if he should be amazed or scared of the ease with which Atem seemed to control the powerful monster.

"Magic" The Pharaoh answered easily and vaguely, not willing to go into a long and detailed explanation of Shadow Magic until he knew more about the boy's own kind of power.

"Now come, the train station is not far from here, three blocks at most" Atem said, recognizing the place from when he had first gotten off the train this afternoon.

He didn't really wait to see if Harry would follow him before he was already making his way to the tiny little station that Great Hangleton had. He was confident that the boy would follow, if only out of curiosity rather than gratefulness towards his unexpected savior. And he did.

"Where are we going?" The young magician questioned, walking to Atem's side as the two made their way through the dark empty streets together.

"We have to get farther away because they might still be following" The Pharaoh explained, taking a cautious look back to make sure no one was shadowing them. "We are going to London. I have a room there, it should be safe"

The other boy glanced back nervously – having noticed Atem do the same, no doubt – as he seemed to calculate the danger of going off with a stranger who had helped him against that of staying here alone with possible unfriendly sorcerers around. It really wasn't that much of a decision.

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Getting back to his hotel room in London hadn't been all that difficult, merely a train and cab ride later and the two teenagers were already there. Fortunately no one seemed to have followed them, but Atem still made sure to summon a couple minor Shadows – not really creatures, and not at all like the ones in his Deck, these were simpler and weaker – to stand guard around the hotel building.

The ride here had been silent, as the two boys really had no idea what to say to each other; not unless they wanted to risk other people overhearing a conversation that would certainly include delicate topics such as magic, attempted murders and kidnappings, summoned monsters and the like.

Now that they were safely away from prying ears and eyes, though, conversation was about to get interesting.

"So, what is your name?" The Pharaoh asked, sitting down in one of the comfortable cushioned chairs that the hotel provided for his room.

The other boy moved a bit nervously and sat on the bed, his muscles relaxing almost against his will after the extremely hard and exhausting day he had, making him almost wish to sink into the soft mattress.

"Harry" The boy answered, and even his voice sounded very tired. "You didn't tell me yours, though, back when I asked" He reminded the Pharaoh.

"You asked who I was, and that is not entirely the same as asking for a name" The older teenager contested, but in the end decided to give in and just answer. "Atem is my name"

The other boy nodded in understanding and twirled his wand nervously in his fingers, obviously trying to come up with some way to start a talk that was sure to be long and tiresome, not to mention potentially dangerous.

"Thank you" He finally said, his green eyes lifting away from his still twirling wand and towards Atem's ruby gaze. "For helping me back there"

"You are welcome" The Pharaoh said with a nod, accepting the thanks he was given. "Now, I believe I have some questions for you"

He had many questions in fact, about the magic this boy and those strange men had used back in the graveyard, about the not-souls, about the reason why the boy was even in that dreary place in the first place, about what had happened before he arrived at the scene, about many things.

The wizard seemed to have been expecting this and only sighed in resignation before nodding, having decided to answer as truthfully as he could and perhaps get some explanations of his own.

This was how the Pharaoh Atem first came to know about modern day magicians and the concealed Wizarding World. It was without a doubt a very enlightening conversation.

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**Author's Notes**: A bit shorter than the last chapter, I believe, but I didn't want to include a very long and probably unnecessary description of the Wizarding World, Hogwarts, the Ministry, the Tournament and etc, etc.

This one also had some good amount of action packed in and this adventure is only just starting for our two heroes, so stay tuned and find out what happens next ^-^

*A little bit taken from Gazelle's card description: _This monster moves so fast that it looks like an illusion to mortal eyes._

**Tarica**: Thank you very much for your comment and suggestion, I re-read that part and found that you were completely right so I edited it a bit, hope it's better now (because knowing me, I might have just made it worse ^^U).

**Naosj**: lol, thank you. Well, I'm not going tos ay much about the future of this fic, but do stay around for the next couple of chapters and I think you'll have a pleasant surprise ;)

**goldenqueenofthecove**: First of all, I want to thank you for your reviews, I'm very glad you like this story ^-^ On the card games, thanks for your support…I know it might seem a little strange to mix languages like that but I dunno, it just makes sense to me, I guess XD Oh, and about the wizards, they are going to have a decidedly interesting reaction but you will have to wait for next chapter to find out more ^_-

**Catzi**: Hey there! Lol, thanks for reading and reviewing this and my other stories ^_^ I'm glad you like the pairing, not all that many people seem to even though I find it's my absolute favorite [though I will admit I am a bit of a puzzleshipping fangirl XD]

A big, great thank you to **everyone** who reviewed this story. I would really like to encourage you people to leave comments, as it helps a lot to know what you think of my work and also how you think it could be better so comments, suggestions and ideas go in the review box! ^-^


	4. Murder

**Torn Fate, Bound Destiny**

Chapter Four

_Murder_

**Disclaimer:** I own neither Yu-Gi-Oh! or Harry Potter, they belong to Takahashi and Rowling respectively and I take credit only for the situations in which I put their characters. I am also not making any sort of profit out of this story…would be great if I did, but I'm not so that's that.

**Summary:** The Ceremonial Duel ended and the Pharaoh was given the choice of either moving on or staying. Too used to the World of the Living and attached to his friends, he decides to stay and is given his own body to inhabit in this new life. With his destiny fulfilled and the world safe once again, the Pharaoh feels without purpose and unneeded…at least until a certain young wizard comes into his life, binding their fates and taking the Pharaoh into a whole new set of crazy adventures. Action, Adventure, Angst and Slash!

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Bright rays of sun shone through a half-opened window, coming to fall directly over a certain young wizard's stubbornly closed eyes and disturbing his very much needed, very much troubled sleep and driving him back into the much too problematic waking world.

Last night had been interesting in a very horrific, nightmare-inspiring way for the poor boy and so it came to no surprise when he woke up when it was already nearing noon. Atem had not had the heart to wake him up even when the Pharaoh himself had awakened much earlier, all set and ready to get the boy back to his home and go about dealing with last night's evildoers.

The black-haired boy had been so utterly exhausted last night after explaining as much as he could about his 'world' that the Pharaoh had gone as far as to give up his comfortable bed – unfortunately, the room was for one single guest and so contained one single bed – and sleep in the suitably comfortable couch instead. Harry had been most reluctant to accept, but his weariness had finally beaten him and stopped his protests.

"Wasimeisit?" The boy's rather non-understandable mumbles came from his place still tangled in the bed covers.

Atem snorted amusedly, watching the younger try to run the sleep from his eyes and fail miserably, his hair a perfect representation of a bird's nest that could almost compete with the once spirit's own chaotic locks.

"I will assume you are asking about the time" The regal adolescent said, having more-or-less translated the boy's sleepy words into English. "If it is so, it is now eleven o' clock in the morning"

At that, the green-eyed teenager jumped out of the bed; unfortunately for him, his legs remained tangled in the sheets which made him to fall down right back into the bed and caused Atem to chuckle at his misfortune before the poor boy had the chance to right himself and try to recover his dignity.

"That late!" The younger exclaimed, disentangling himself from the positively evil linens at the same time he tried to make his sleep-wrinkled clothes – which were muddy, bloody, torn and just one step away from unfit to wear anyways – look a bit more acceptable.

"I have to get back to school…" He paused there, giving up his futile quest with his clothes for a moment. "…to tell them about…about C-Cedric" His voice was almost a whisper at the end, his hands clenched tightly and gripping the fabric with much more force than necessary.

Atem frowned at that, his thoughts going back to the boy who had perished last night, the one he had been much too late to save. He had come to the conclusion that it was that boy's death, the spell that caused it, which had called his attention to the events occurring in that awful graveyard in the first place. It was ironic and sad, but that boy's death might very well have saved the life of the younger one.

"I am sorry" The Pharaoh finally said after a long silent pause. "I didn't get there in time to help your friend. My deepest condolences" his words were honest and heartfelt, for he knew what it was like to watch others die, had gone through it three thousand years ago and could still not completely get over it.

"It wasn't your fault" The boy said, shaking his head sadly and keeping his gaze firmly away from the ancient teenager's.

Atem knew what was going through the younger's mind – without having the need to use an Item and read his thoughts, it was plainly written in his face. He was blaming himself for the other's death and probably going over all the things he could have done or not done that would have changed the tragic outcome of last night's events.

"Neither is it yours" The Pharaoh stated firmly, his eyes not leaving Harry's form. "There really was nothing you could have done for him"

The grieving teen merely grunted out a noncommittal sound before turning his back entirely to the Pharaoh to look around for his apparently misplaced wand. It made Atem want to shake some sense into the boy, but he supposed the job was better off left for people said boy trusted and knew more than he did the Pharaoh – other than his name, Harry didn't really know anything else about him.

"I should get going" The boy finally said, having just found his wand and finished putting on his half-torn shoes.

The Pharaoh nodded in understanding and moved away from the wall he had been comfortably leaning against as he conversed with the other teenager, his arms crossed over his chest and look of confident determination back in his face.

"Very well" He agreed. "I will be accompanying you as far as I can. I believe you said something about a pub from where you could find your way back to this school of yours" The Pharaoh said, recalling parts of the conversation they had held last night.

"The Leaky Cauldron, yes" The boy confirmed before blushing for a moment and turning his gaze to the floor. "You don't have to come with me, though, I can get there myself"

Atem only grunted in response, mimicking the sound the boy had given just a minute before and moved to exit the hotel room, rather obviously stating that he would go with the younger anyways. It was enough to make Harry narrow his eyes but he didn't otherwise oppose the other's resolve.

It took another cab ride for them to get to Charing Cross Road, where the wizarding pub was supposedly located. Atem paid the cab driver, which got him a mumbled 'thank you' from his temporary companion. The boy had wanted to pay for the expense of getting there, but it was clear that he carried no money on his person at the time; not that this had stopped him from promising to pay Atem back sometime.

The two walked the short way to the pub in silence, not really knowing what to say. When they finally got the place, Atem noticed that the other pedestrians seemed to completely ignore the place, as though it didn't exist at all, and chalked it up to some sort of enchantment the wizards had placed on it, which made sense once he thought about it.

"Well" The Pharaoh said, stopping his stride when they were at the pub's threshold. "This is where I leave you. I have other business to tend to in London. Good luck and good bye"

"Bye and thanks for everything…again" The boy said, finally meeting gazes with the regal teenager before diving inside the dingy-looking, magic-concealed place.

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As soon as he closed the door behind him, he knew there was something wrong. It was probably some sixth sense born in him from his rather impressive curriculum of adventure, some sort of danger radar or something that at the moment was strongly insisting he get away and fast.

Unfortunately and like any good adolescent, he didn't always listen to his senses and in this case decided to ignore it. In his defense, it can be said that he did glance at the pub's interior to check for mask-wielding, killing-curse-casting black-robe-wearing Death Eaters. The Leaky Cauldron was free of Voldemort's followers –thankfully, he didn't know how much more of those guys he could take – and although he did notice an inordinate amount of stares fixed on him, he put that off as people wanting to stare at the 'famous Boy-Who-Lived' once again and paid it no mind.

His second clue that something was not right – first being his currently ignored danger sense – was when a woman sitting with her children in some random table leapt back from her seat, dragging her young ones behind her as if to protect them from some crazed psychopath with a loaded gun. The reaction made him freeze, which was probably a big mistake in retrospective.

The third and most definite clue was when Tom the barkeeper shouted alarmed at some man behind the counter.

"Call the Aurors!"

Now, Harry had had a very traumatizing night yesterday and he was emotionally drained still and so it was probably one of those psychological reactions meant to protect said emotions and keep him from stressing out which made him think that perhaps, just perhaps, they wanted to call the magical counterparts of the police force because he had been reported missing by Dumbledore and they would escort him back to Hogwarts. Still, stress-preventing psychology or no, Harry Potter was not a normal boy and, having seen and done all he had so far, the childish hope of being rescued by the Aurors died a very quick death.

It was probably helped by the fact that, not one minute after Tom's panicked cry, said Aurors came crashing though the fireplace, wands at the ready and looking for all the world like they were about to attack Sirius Black – who was innocent but as the Aurors didn't know made a good example.

"Get him!" Yelled one of the four red-robed members of Law Enforcement.

And that shout – so very similar, almost identical in fact, to Voldemort's last night – was what finally shook him awake and made him bolt away from the place, banging the door to the Muggle World open and then slamming it closed in some perhaps childish but certainly comforting attempt to keep his pursuers away.

He was now running through the streets of London, feeling more than actually seeing the Aurors at his heels, firing a _stupefy_ every now and then, which he was fortunately dodging so far and saw fly past his head – some colliding with some very unfortunate and now panicked muggles.

It was probably a very cruel and twisted joke of Fate that, the moment he looked back to try and catch a glimpse of the attacking Aurors and stopped paying attention to where he was going, he crashed headfirst into a person; and not just any person, no, it just _had_ to be Atem – the tricolored pointy hairdo was unmistakable.

He heard the other groan from his place underneath him, but he was much too busy listening to the Aurors yell to actually pay attention and feel bad about throwing him to the ground. For some reason Harry himself could not explain – but would always suspect was due to déjà vu from last night – he grabbed the older teenager's hand and dragged him up and away.

"What the….? Harry?" Was all Atem could think of saying as the two ran through the busy city streets, a contingent of angry wizards at their heels once again.

"Just run!" Harry answered, throwing panicked glances back at their pursuers every once in a while.

It wasn't until Atem finally followed his example and looked back that he finally noticed their less than cheery company. The regal boy's frightening red eyes narrowed into an expression that could only be called angry annoyance – making said eyes look even more intimidating, if possible.

"This way" The older boy said, rather calmly too for a person who found himself dragged into yet another one of Harry's chaotic moments.

Atem proceeded to take control of their escape, dragging Harry instead of the other way around. He dove around the crowd of people easily and with a grace Harry could most certainly begrudge him – especially since he did crash into one or two unfortunate individuals – and trying to lose the wizards in the mass of civilian muggles.

A few blocks and quite a number of annoyed people mumbling about irresponsible youths later and the Aurors were still after them. And although the two boys seemed to have gained some ground on them it was obvious that they wouldn't manage to outrun them before a lucky spell hit them or a stray one caused some tragedy. That was when Atem jumped into a random alley – and really, what was with this guy and dark alleys? – and roughly pulled Harry in after him. And as though that much manhandling wasn't enough, the red-eyed boy pushed Harry against the brick wall before leaning over, crushing the younger's body with his own and creating a very much uncomfortable and awkward situation for the wizard.

"What are you..?" But Harry didn't manage to finish his befuddled and slightly indignant question before Atem shushed him harshly.

"Shhhh! Don't talk and whatever you feel, don't scream" Atem's voice was firm and full of authority as he ordered this.

His words unfortunately were not at all reassuring to poor Harry, who could feel his heartbeat accelerate almost dangerously as he wondered if the guy was about to murder or molest him.

Both of his suspicions were proven incorrect soon enough, thankfully…or maybe not quite so much. He saw some tendril of dark mist – it looked kinda like mist, but not any kind of mist he had ever seen before – rise quickly from the ground, crawling over both the boy's bodies and finally covering them from head to toe. He understood what Atem meant with the 'don't scream' comment, the sensation of that thing crawling all over him left him feeling cold, breathless and somehow doomed – it was remarkably similar to that 'stepped over my grave' thing that some people described, only a thousand times worse.

And as though that was not enough stress on his poor heart, the Aurors soon came running right next to the alley. Harry knew that they were not deep enough in the alley to not be noticed, and it was noon so the place was perfectly illuminated; there was no way they wouldn't be seen and caught.

Only, it didn't happen. The Aurors went by – one even poked his head into the alley! – but it was as though they were covered by his beloved invisibility cloak because the men kept going without ever noticing the two escapees.

A minute or so later Atem seemed to deem it safe enough and moved away from Harry and the dark mist finally dispersed into nothingness, making the young wizard able to breathe normally once more. However, as soon as he looked into the older boy's crimson stare he found that he would much prefer to deal with enraged Aurors; Atem could be intimidating like that, Harry had found.

"What happened?" The mysterious teen's voice was more regal and commanding than should be legal for a guy his age, and it made Harry cringe slightly.

"I don't know!" The boy yelled, overstressed from the streak of bad luck that didn't seem to leave him alone. "I just went in and next thing I know they sent the bloody police after me!"

Atem's eyes widened in surprise and then narrowed back in suspicion, making Harry realize that maybe that hadn't been the smartest thing to say to the guy he had dragged during that little merry chase.

"The police?" The multicolor-haired boy stated in a dry, unimpressed voice. "Why, exactly, would they send the police after you?" He said, staring at Harry with enough intensity to make the very brave young Gryffindor squirm.

"I don't know!" He repeated, still panicky and exasperated "It's like they thought I was a criminal or something but I didn't do anything!" He said, protesting his innocence.

Atem narrowed his eyes some more and, unknown to Harry, prodded at the wizard's soul gently, trying to determine the honesty of his words. Finally, he sighed in defeat and nodded, agreeing to the younger's claims of innocence. That, at least, brought Harry some relief, since it probably meant he was not going to be dragged down to the Leaky Cauldron and delivered to the Aurors.

"It could be a misunderstanding" Atem stated, turning his gaze to the entrance of the alley and the city outside it as he contemplated possibilities. "Is there some way for you to find out?"

Harry thought about it, coming up with ideas and then discarding them just about as soon. He couldn't send a letter to Ron and Hermione because Hedwig was still back at Hogwarts and any owl for rent he could get his hands of was in Diagon Alley, which would mean going through the Leaky Cauldron and the angry crowd inside it. He also could not contact Dumbledore or anyone else in the Wizarding World for the same reason. In other words, he was pretty much screwed.

And then, just like that, an idea – a very crazy and probably inadequate one – came to his mind and would not leave him alone. Atem seemed to notice that he had stopped thinking options as well as his reluctance to speak and raised a curious eyebrow at it.

"Well?" He prompted, making Harry wince at being caught so easily.

"I-I think…" The boy paused for a moment, gathering his courage before starting to speak again "The people at the Leaky Cauldron have to know…but…well, _I_ can't go" He said, staring at Atem and hoping his unspoken suggestion was understood.

It was. Atem sighed again, and Harry had the feeling that he would have groaned were it not both rude and kind of out of character for him.

"But I can" He finally said. "Very well" He said, agreeing with the plan and making the young wizard want to sigh in relief.

"But you stay here while I go" The ruby-eyed teen said, eyes firmly trained on Harry. "Do _not_ move from this place"

Harry felt a little insulted that the guy though he had to repeat himself and speak to him as though he were some little misbehaving child, but was much too grateful for Atem's continued help to really protest too much and so – other than an apparently ignored glare – he let it pass.

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Atem considered it might not be all that bad a thing, having to check this wizarding place out himself, since he had pretty much decided to explore this newly discovered sub-society. Of course, he hadn't planned on having to investigate why his most recent companion had gone from kidnap victim to wanted felon, but life can be unexpected like that.

He opened the door and walked inside the dark pub, his stride as confident and regal as that of the king he had been once a lifetime ago, looking for all the world like he owned the place and knew it – that was a little technique he had learned and copied from none other than Seto Kaiba, Mr.-King-of the business-world.

His entrance seemed to get the attention of all of the Leaky Cauldron's patrons, but most just glanced once at him before dismissing him as unimportant and going back to their business; though a few people stared at him and muttered irritably about 'muggle fashion these days'. Atem ignored them all.

The barkeeper, and old man who seemed to be missing quite a few of his teeth, gazed at him for a few moments before finally seeming to decide that Atem was out of place and he should go investigate the new arrival on his establishment, mumbling about stay muggles. That word was starting to get on the ancient teen's nerves.

"Are you lost, boy?" The man asked, a bit rudely in Atem's opinion, but his opinion might be slightly skewered due to the fact that he was a Pharaoh and was used to being treated with utmost respect.

"No" Atem said, complete confidence in his voice even though he was mentally scrambling for some way to get the information he needed without being obvious about it.

Fortunately, the gods seemed to be in his favor today and he spotted what could certainly be the most interesting newspaper he had ever seen in his life – and considering a few of the headlines you could see in Domino, that was saying something – with moving pictures and all. Atem moved towards the discarded paper lying on a barstool, ignoring the barkeeper for now as he had something much more interesting than a grouchy wizard with bad dental hygiene.

There on the front page, written in bold and flashing black letters and accompanied by a picture of the young wizard he had left in some alley, were the words:

"Harry Potter Murders Fellow Tri-wizard Champion Cedric Diggory"

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**Author's Notes**: And the plot thickens! It seems nothing is ever easy for Harry and Atem, ne? At least not when I'm the one writing XD So, what do you think? Will Atem turn Harry in? Will the Aurors find them, or at least the now lone Harry? Stay tuned to ''Torn Destiny, Bound Fate" and find out! ^-^

**Chiro Fukana**: Thank you very much for the review ^_^ Yeah, well, I'm trying to make those two take things slow, so they are starting as mere acquaintances and will advance on to friends and then finally to something more XD

**Tarica**: Thanks for your review, I really do appreciate your points of view ^^ Oh, I could have written it, I guess, but knowing me I would have written at least twice as much as the chapter already had just to go onto details and making sure I covered stuff I would need Atem to know later on ^^U

**goldenqueenofthecove**: First of all I want to thank you for the comment :3 Yeah, that part is probably like my second favorite from the movie (and only because I absolutely love dragons and the first task looked great XD) so I tried to keep it as emotional as the original. Oh and yes, there is major freaking out coming along sometime soon *cackles evilly*

**aquabless** Thanks a bunch for the review ^-^ Well, since they are very different branches of magic I really couldn't tell you which one is strongest, especially since wizard magic is so versatile so if you compare Shadow magic to…let's say a levitation charm then yeah, it beats wizard magic hands down but when compared to a killing curse then they might be more equal .

A big, great thank you to **everyone** who reviewed this story. I would really like to encourage you people to leave comments, as it helps a lot to know what you think of my work and also how you think it could be better so comments, suggestions and ideas go in the review box! ^-^


	5. The Escape Plan

**Torn Fate, Bound Destiny**

Chapter Five

_The Escape Plan_

**Disclaimer:** I own neither Yu-Gi-Oh! or Harry Potter, they belong to Takahashi and Rowling respectively and I take credit only for the situations in which I put their characters. I am also not making any sort of profit out of this story…would be great if I did, but I'm not so that's that.

**Summary:** The Ceremonial Duel ended and the Pharaoh was given the choice of either moving on or staying. Too used to the World of the Living and attached to his friends, he decides to stay and is given his own body to inhabit in this new life. With his destiny fulfilled and the world safe once again, the Pharaoh feels without purpose and unneeded…at least until a certain young wizard comes into his life, binding their fates and taking the Pharaoh into a whole new set of crazy adventures. Action, Adventure, Angst and Slash!

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"_**Harry Potter Murders Fellow Tri-wizard Champion Cedric Diggory"**_

_By Rita Skeeter_

_In s surprising and shocking turn of events yesterday during the third and final task of the renowned Triwizard Tournament, the two Hogwarts champions were suddenly lost from the watchful eyes of the Tournament staff team._

_One of them, seventeen year old Cedric Diggory – highest grades and considered best student of his generation – was later found tragically dead, murdered in cold blood by none other than his fellow Hogwarts student and Triwizard champion Harry Potter – our very own Boy-Who-Lived!_

_Veteran auror Alastor Moody* investigated the crime scene and retrieved magical traces on the use of an illegal portkey to take the two boys away from Hogwarts. After very careful and throughout research on all of the evidence, this knowledgeable expert pierced together a story that is as shocking as it is blood-chilling._

_It seems Harry Potter and Cedric Diggory were the only students left actually participating in the Tournament as fellow champion Fleur Delacour was taken out sometime earlier and the Bulgarian Seeker Viktor Krum fell prey of some enchantment before he could finish the task. When Mr. Diggory approached the Cup before Harry Potter reached it, having earned it though his hard efforts of very impressive and promising magical skills, the younger, mentally-imbalanced competitor lost his mind in rage._

_The evidence shows that Harry Potter then charmed the Cup into a portkey just as Cedric Diggory touched it and claimed the victory. Said portkey took them to some as of yet unknown location where he proceeded to brutally murder his own schoolmate, with the Killing Curse no less, as shown by extensive investigation on the body._

_This is, in this journalist's humble opinion, the most tragic event that has hit our peaceful community since the death of You-Know-Who himself. Not only was one brave, loyal and hard-working young man with a lot of promise for the future lost in death, but also out so-called hero Harry Potter was lost to his own darkness. _

_Perhaps, when one thinks about it enough, this is something that could have been avoided had something been done about Potter's many signs of a disturbed psychological profile that, if you remember correctly, this journalist has been continuously trying to bring to attention in an attempt to stop this sort of tragic even from occurring in the first place._

_Harry Potter is now a wanted criminal and orders have been given from the Department of Magical Law Enforcement to capture on sight. We advise the kind people of the Wizarding World to keep their eyes open for this cold-blooded killer and contact the aurors immediately if you see him, do not approach him as he is thought to be armed and highly dangerous._

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Atem could feel his eyes widen and his grip on the paper loosen dangerously in shock, and normally he would have composed himself before any of this was noticed by someone else, but he had had a fair amount of unpleasant surprises in the last twenty four hours and so felt entirely justified to be a little out of it.

"Surprising, ain't it?" The raspy voice of the barkeeper said, breaking his concentration.

"Yes" The regal boy agreed, recovering his wits and going back to his act of nonchalance.

"Never though the lad had it in him, never." The old man said, shaking his head either sadly or reproachfully, Atem wasn't sure. "Even had him here for some time, room 11."

Atem didn't comment, not really sure what he was supposed to say and by now only looking for an excuse to get out of this place and back to the hopefully-still-waiting Harry. The thought of the other teen almost made the Pharaoh wince in pity; the poor boy had some serious trouble now.

"Indeed. And then the shameless little shod has the gall to show his face here!" The man claimed loudly, waving one arm indignantly. "Luckily the aurors came to chase him out. Hope they catch that good for nothing murderer" He spat.

The end of the man's sentence was a dark whisper, full of hatred and malice; and a few of the pub's patrons had been obviously listening in on the conversation and grumbled their depreciative comments – 'I knew that boy was bad news', 'Knew from the start, I did', 'Boy was messed up from that night, something wrong with his head, you can tell by that scar of his', 'Darker than the Dark Lord' – that made Atem once again wonder about the true worth of men's souls.

The teenager though for only a second about what the old man said, before deciding that he had just found the perfect excuse and that he did not desire to spend any more time than necessary around this backwater, judgmental people – and for a boy who was three thousand years old, calling someone 'backwater' was saying a lot.

"Really? Did they chase him into London?" The once spirit asked, feigning interest surprisingly easy. "I should go see if they manage to capture him" He stated, not leaving any time for the barkeeper to answer.

Before anything else could get on his way, he folded the paper and placed it inside his jacket to hide it from view – he didn't really think it smart to take the newspaper full of magically moving photographs out into normal London, but he was sure Harry would want to read it himself – and calmly strode to the door, ignoring the mumbled 'strange lads these days' from the slightly offended barkeeper.

As he made his way back to the alley in which he and the other boy had taken refuge not too long ago he contemplated what exactly could be done about this situation, and what _would_ he do. He had planned on going back to the graveyard today – investigate some to try and figure out these wizards – and then go to his tournament tomorrow, since that was the only reason he was even in Britain. Now, however, it seemed his plans would have to change due to the falsely-accused-but-still-wanted criminal he was accompanying.

Atem knew that, regardless of how he felt about it, he would end up doing everything he could to help Harry. It was the right thing to do and he wouldn't be able to deal with his conscience if he allowed this injustice to mess up that boy's life…though perhaps it also had something to do with the fact that Yugi would never forgive him if he found out and no one wanted to deal with a disappointed Yugi, less of all Atem.

The Pharaoh sighed wearily for what felt like the thousandth time since his arrival in the country as he made a turn and entered the alley. Not three seconds had passed before the current source of his troubled thoughts made his way from behind a garbage can – where he had obviously been hiding n fear of returning magical police – and towards him.

Before the boy could even ask – because he honestly didn't know how he would answer – Atem took the 'borrowed' newspaper and handed it to him. Harry took it in his hands and began to ready avidly, his face losing more and more color as he read until he finally finished the article and simply collapsed, his legs apparently too weak and shaky to hold him anymore.

Atem moved quickly and grabbed hold of the shaken boy, keeping him upright for a moment and then slowly lowering him to the ground before following. The two sat there, in the dirty floor of some London alley, and neither spoke for a long time; Atem because he didn't know what to say to make the situation better – he doubted there was any words that could do that – and Harry because he had probably not recovered from the shock yet.

Finally it was the wizard who broke the silence.

"They…they think I did it. They think I k-killed C-C-Cedric"

It was all too much, too much violence, sadness, confusion and grief in too little a time. Atem was not surprised at all when he boy finally snapped – he had in fact, been waiting for it since yesterday – although he _was_ a little shocked when said boy suddenly latched on to him. The Pharaoh did not have to look down at the shaking figure to know that the younger was crying, he could feel the silent sobs against his chest and the wetness of tears in his shoulder so he did the only thing any decent person would do, he held the boy and tried to comfort him.

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The two had made their way back to Atem's hotel room, with the Pharaoh keeping a sharp eye out for any red-robed men that might be wondering around and still looking for them. Atem had spared a thought or two on how exactly the aurors planned to explain their sudden appearance amidst the crowds of London – and the jets of light they shot at said crowd – before dismissing them as unimportant and focusing instead on getting Harry back to safety…again.

They were now coped up in the room once more, Atem leaning against a wall comfortably while Harry sat in a chair and hugged a pillow, mumbling to himself every once in a while and gripping the linen-clad plush thing tighter.

To Atem, the other boy suddenly looked younger and much more vulnerable than he had even last night, almost hopeless and defeated. It was strange and unpleasant, the Pharaoh found, to have the magician who had stood up so bravely to the bunch of black-robed criminals just yesterday now look so unwilling to fight.

Finally sick of the silence and dark mood, the Pharaoh decided that something needed to be done.

"Well?" He prompted, one dark eyebrow lifted in curiosity.

Harry didn't seem to be a in a very cooperative mood right now, and gripped his pillow tighter as he grumbled some more.

"Well what?" The teenager bit out, both annoyed and depressed. "What do you want me to do? I can't go back to school and I can't go back…_home_" He spat out the last word as though it were something foul and unpleasant, making Atem wonder if this boy's problems ran deeper than he could see.

"It is just a stupid misunderstanding" The Pharaoh said, equally aggravated by now. "We can go to these…" He paused, looking at the article for a moment to get the proper term. "…aurors and straighten this out, I will testify for you"

The younger boy let out a strangled and very bitter laugh in response, hiding his face in the pillow for a moment before resurfacing to look at Atem once more, his eyes full of both defeat and anger, looking cold and fiery at the same time.

"It won't work, they won't listen…they never do" He stated, sounding almost hateful. "Those people send innocents to prison without a trial, it's happened before and it will happen again"

Harry could more than clearly remember the haunted face of his godfather when he spoke about Azkaban and its horrors, not to mention the extremely unhealthy look the man had even months after he had gotten out. That and the knowledge of what kind of guards awaited at Azkaban made Harry fear it more than anything else, perhaps even more than Voldemort.

"I can't go to prison…I just can't"

The boy's voice sounded strained and shaky as he said it and gripped his – by now almost dissected – pillow tighter still. His reaction easily made Atem understand that this was not some juvenile fear of jail, this was something born from a deeper, almost traumatic, understanding of said jail and what awaited there. That and the decidedly gross miscarriage of justice the boy describe was enough to make the once spirit want to _mind crush_ a few wizards.

"And your rulers?" The ancient teen questioned, almost desperate to find at least a bit of fairness in this strange magical society. "Surely they–" But he was interrupted by yet another humorless and bitter laugh from Harry.

"They don't give a rat's furry ass about others as long as their careers are safe" The young wizard sounded almost old as he said this, wise and bitter.

"Then they are not fit to rule" Atem stated with all of the regal indignation he possessed, his anger having escalated and bubbling just under the surface.

"Perhaps" The younger said with a shrug, ignoring the other's angry crimson eye glare at nothing. "But there's nothing we can do about it"

"Maybe" The Pharaoh agreed, though obviously wanting to say something else. "But even so we must do something. You can't just stay hiding in this room forever…_I_ can't stay in this room forever either, I have to go back ho…" And the regal teenager paused, his eyes suddenly narrowed in concentration as what could only be the single most crazy idea he had ever had invaded his mind.

It was a stupid idea, and it probably wouldn't even work, but something told the once spirit that he should at the very least give it a try and Atem was stubborn and determined enough to perhaps even pull it off. He left his spot near the wall and in one single fluid movement approached the still pillow-clutching boy.

"Do you have any money? What about your documents, id, passport?" The older questioned, his eyes glinting in almost-mischief as the idea grew and took a more defined shape in his mind.

The other boy looked startled for a second – he even sputtered remarkable alike a fish for a second – at the decidedly strange questioning, but he seemed to have grown to trust Atem enough not to comment until the older explained more thoroughly.

"I have some money in the bank" The boy confessed. "But no passport and the only id I have ever had is an old library card from when I was a kid"

That seemed to put a damper on Atem's sudden burst of good mood, but it didn't last all that long.

"Doesn't matter…only need passport if we go through the airport" The Pharaoh was by now mumbling to himself and apparently ignoring Harry. "I can ask Kaiba…no, wait, I can ask _Mokuba_. They are bound to have a jet here. I will owe them a favor, but it's still better than nothing"

At the sudden – and rather crazy-sounding – talk of jets and airports Harry could not help but feel a slight bit of panic and a whole lot of confusion. The boy gazed at Atem with the same kind of look one would give a mildly dangerous animal, worried but still curious.

"What the bloody hell are you talking about? What jet? Who're Mokuba and Kaiba?" The magician said, his eyes trained on Atem as the older paced from one side of the room to the other, almost making him dizzy by now.

The older teen paused his wearing a hole in the room and turned to gaze at his younger companion, a look that could only be called that of mischievous plotting plainly displayed on his face.

"I am getting you out of the country" He finally declared, sounding entirely too smug.

Harry wanted to facepalm, he really did.

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**Author's Notes**: In love thickening plots! XD So, what do you think? Where will they be going? Will they get there or will they be caught? Is Rita Skeeter _ever_ gonna write the truth? Stay tuned and find out!

I will apologize right now if you think the relationship between Harry and Atem isn't exactly romantic as I stated at the beginning. It's nowhere near that yet…in fact, Atem might not even consider Harry a friend yet and Harry might think of Atem as a comforting friendly acquaintance if anything. It's going to evolve, though, and we all get front row tickets to the drama that is sure to unfold XD

*In case you were wondering, this mentions the fake Moody a.k.a. Barty Crouch Jr. Without Harry there, the guy wasn't discovered and so he's still around…we'll see what happens to him in the future.

On a happy notice, I've uploaded new chapters for not just this, but several of my stories so I'll leave you guys with enough updates to read for the week while I go away on holiday (Yay! Goin' to the beach, baby! XD) so I will be expecting loads of reviews when I come back home!...just kidding, but it would be nice of you -_^

And on an entirely different note, I'm going to have to resort to some advertising here ^^U You see some of my friends have this band that is currently competing in a contest to open a concert for Misfits. Sadly, the contest turned from a test of skill into a popularity contest so it doesn't matter that they are the only band participating that actually play the same genre as Misfits, they still need the votes to win. So yeah, if any of you guys would be kind enough to just click 'like' on this, I'll be insanely grateful ^_^ http: / www . facebook . ?fbid=10150556142215717&set=o.8192055889&type=1&theater [just remove the spaces please]

A big, great thank you to **everyone** who reviewed this story. I would really like to encourage you people to leave comments, as it helps a lot to know what you think of my work and also how you think it could be better so comments, suggestions and ideas go in the review box! ^-^


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